It is desirable when outputting processed continuous web, such as perforated computer printout paper, to separate and stack discrete sections of web. It is further desirable to separate the web at locations other than standard fold lines in order to create tabs and indented pages. The Applicant in his copending now U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,640, issued Jul. 21, 1992, which is, in turn, a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/534,724, (filed) Jun. 7, 1990, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,992 issued Nov. 19, 1991. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/534,724 filed Jun. 7, 1990 , now U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,992 issued Nov. 19, 1991 discloses a method of creating tabbed and indented separations between stacks of zig-zag web. In addition, Applicant's copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/560,127 filed Jul. 31, 1990 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,727, issued Mar. 16, 1993, discloses a system for tracking fold and other locations on a continuous web.
Job separators that separate pieces of web into folded stacks have become more popular in recent years. These machines however generally rely upon tractor pin feed holes along the sides of the paper and only separate along pre-perforated fold lines. One such machine is sold currently by the Standard Register Corporation. Machines according to the prior art have limited versatility and application since they include paper/material wasteful tractor pin feed drives requiring side holes upon the web and lack the ability to cut or fold paper at locations other than standard perforations and also, as a consequence, lack the ability to create tabs longer than a normal page length or indents that are shorter than normal page length. Additionally, the prior art has not incorporated the ability to cut fold lengths or fold orientations dynamically, without manual intervention, as the folding process proceeds. Thus, these prior art machines lack needed flexibility for creating a uniquely tabbed and separated stack of output.